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action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/vegaspifirm/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114The owner of a vehicle can be responsible in some cases if they permitted someone to driver their car and that person gets into a car accident. This concept is called negligent entrustment. In essence under this concept, if an owner permits a person they know is unfit to operate a vehicle and that person causes a crash, the owner is responsible. Negligent entrustment can also apply when an owner knew or had a reason to know that unfit driver was using their vehicle and failed to stop it.<\/p>\n One of the leading cases on negligent entrustment in Nevada is the case of Zugel by Zugel v. Miller, 100 Nev. 525, 688 P.2d 310 (1984)<\/a><\/em>. In that case, a 13-year old purchased a motorcycle with the permission of his parents. The parents claimed they told their son not to drive the motorcycle on the public streets. But the son did, with a friend of his as a passenger. The son ran a stop sign and caused an accident. The passenger made a claim against the teenage driver and his parents. The parents disclaimed responsibility for negligent entrustment.<\/p>\n The Nevada Supreme Court disagreed with the parents. What swayed the Court was the son\u2019s testimony that his parents knew he routinely rode his motorcycle on public streets. As stated by the Court, \u201c[f]rom this fact alone the jury could have inferred that respondents possessed knowledge of their son\u2019s activities of driving the motorcycle on public roadways.\u201d<\/p>\n Under this theory of liability, the entrusting person need not have known that the motor vehicle was going to be driven on a public roadway. In fact, a parent who entrusts his child with a motor vehicle may be found liable under a theory of negligent entrustment even when the parent expressly instructs the child not to use the vehicle on a public roadway.<\/p>\n Nevada Supreme Court<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The doctrine of negligent entrustment does not apply unless the person that gave permission is the owner of the vehicle. For example, in Mills v. Continental Parking Corp., 86 Nev. 724, 475 P.2d 673 (Nev. 1970)<\/a><\/em>, a parking attendant gave keys to a car\u2019s owner who was allegedly obviously drunk. The drunk car owner then hit and killed a pedestrian. The Court held that the parking attendant cannot be held responsible for returning the keys to the owner, even though the owner was drunk. The Court reasoned, essentially, that the parking attendant had an obligation to return to the keys; otherwise, the attendant can be liable for conversion.<\/p>\n In Las Vegas, tourists too get into car accidents in rental vehicles. The question arises in those situations as to whether the rental car company can be responsible for a renter is an unfit driver. Under N.R.S. 483.610<\/a>, a rental car company is required to check driver\u2019s licenses, unless the renter comes from a country or state that does not require driver\u2019s licenses. This statute further requires the rental company to visually inspect the license and compare the driver\u2019s signature with that on the license. Attorneys for insurance companies and the rental companies have argued that this statute does not require rental car companies to verify that a driver has a valid driver\u2019s license or is fit to drive a car.<\/p>\n Not everyone who negligently causes a car accident is an unfit or incompetent driver. To answer the question of what is an unfit or incompetent driver, we have to look at the laws that says who can\u2019t or shouldn\u2019t drive. The easiest and least disputable is a drunk driver. The law says that a driver who is impaired by alcohol or drugs shouldn\u2019t be driving and penalizes drunk drivers. A car owner who lets a driver they know to be drunk or otherwise impaired to driver their car is responsible for negligent entrustment.<\/p>\n An owner who permits an unlicensed person to drive their vehicle may also be responsible for negligent entrustment. In Zugel v. Zugel<\/em>, the Court found the parents liable even though their son had driven the motorcycle a number of times. Why? Because the law said that the son, who had no driver\u2019s license, was not legally competent to drive.<\/p>\n There may be other situations where a vehicle owner is responsible for a car accident caused by a driver they lent the car to. To find out if negligent entrustment applies in your case, it is best to speak to a car accident attorney who has experience pursuing claims for negligent entrustment.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/p>\nCan A Vehicle Owner Responsible If Someone Gets Into An Accident In Their Car?<\/h2>\n
Who Can Be Responsible For Negligent Entrustment?<\/h3>\n
What does it mean to be unfit or incompetent driver?<\/h3>\n